A Guided Tour of San Francisco in Virtual Reality

In what may be the first VR tour of San Francisco, Ascape VR, has released their official Ascape app for Android that takes you on a guided tour of some of the city’s hidden gems and landmark locations.

Explore the murals of Balmy Alley

The latest app from San Francisco based Ascape VR, features a hosted virtual reality tour titled “You Are Here: San Francisco”. As part of the first entry of the company’s “You Are Here” travel series, the 4K 360 VR cinematic experience takes the viewer on a guided tour of one of America’s most iconic cities. The host throughout the guided tour is Stuart Schuffman, 2015 San Francisco mayoral candidate and host of IFC’s 2011 travel show Young, Broke, and Beautiful.

Jump into a rowboat on Stow Lake

In addition to being part of a standalone Android app, the “You Are Here: San Francisco” episode will be screening nationwide as part of the Kaleidoscope 2015 VR Film festival – the world’s first VR film festival that we have covered earlier.

VR tourism experiences, although a fairly new concept, have started to pop up in everything from museum exhibit tours to music festival ground exploration. For the most part, these VR experiences allow users to explore locations freely and interact with elements to learn more. In the case of a guided VR cinematic tour like this one – where a tour guide is speaking directly at you – the viewer will experience a completely different type of tour and potentially more engaging experience.

When it comes to tours, some tourists like the guided tour experience, and some just like to explore on their own. Either way, now there are more options for the VR tourist in all of us.

Versions for Gear VR and iOS are currently in development, and will be released in the near future.